Page 36 of Hideaway Heart

“I’m checking to make sure it’s safe.” He disappeared down the back hallway, and I went over to the kitchen.

“Want one more beer?” I called out, opening the fridge.

He appeared in the living room again, looking uncertain. “A beer?”

“Yeah. We didn’t get to finish our last drink. I thought maybe if you know how to start a fire, we could sit out by the fire pit.”

“I know how to start a fire.”

“Great.” Grabbing two beers, I shut the fridge with my hip. “Let’s go.”

* * *

“See? Isn’t this nice?” Relaxing in my chair, just this side of tipsy, I stretched my feet toward the fire, which crackled and sparked.

“Sure.” Next to me, Xander seemed anything but relaxed, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, eyes on the flames when they weren’t darting around like he was looking for photographers in the trees. Our two empty beer bottles lay on the gravel between us. He’d talked very little since we came out here, no matter how I tried to draw him out.

“What’s got you so tense?” I looked around. “No paparazzi, no Hart Throbs, no bears.”

“Bears?” He looked over at me, one thick dark eyebrow cocked.

I laughed. “My mom is convinced I’m going to be mauled by a black bear while I’m here. She had a premonition about it.”

“Your mom has premonitions?”

“Yes. She calls it ‘the sight.’ She claims certain women in her family have this ability to see the future in these vivid daydreams they get. As soon as she heard about my plan to take this vacation alone, she had a vision of me being attacked by a giant, angry bear who wanted to eat me up, Little Red Riding Hood style.”

“Interesting.”

“I told her there are no predators here—of course, that was before I came out of the shower and found you standing in my living room.” I gave him a pointed look.

“That was an accident. I’m sorry again for scaring you. And for...seeing you naked.” His eyes darted toward my bare legs.

“Oh, come on.” I used his words from earlier today to poke at him. “Are you saying you didn’t enjoy the view?”

“I was just as uncomfortable as you were.”

I looked over at him and smiled knowingly. “I doubt that.”

“It’s the truth.”

“The truth, huh?” I looked at the fire again. “Should we talk about the truth?”

“What do you mean?”

“At the bar. That kiss.” I kept my eyes on the flames. “Was it really fake?”

“Of course it was.”

“Because it didn’t feel fake.” I braved a glance at him. “Especially the second time.”

“Well, it was. Entirely fake. The whole thing.”

Talk about protesting too much.

I smiled. “So you didn’t want to kiss me back there?”

“Of course not.”